Fort Bend County approves tax relief, public-health grants and transit deal; creates employee behavioral health task force

Fort Bend County Commissioners Court on May 13 approved a package of measures the court said will support public health, transportation and county employees.

The court adopted property tax exemptions for the 2025 tax year that officials said expand relief for homeowners and provide additional exemptions for seniors age 65 and disabled persons. The action was recorded as adopted during the meeting recap.

In public-health funding actions, the court approved three grants described in the record as $105,000 for mosquito control research, $258,000 for immunization services and $150,000 to support HIV/STI prevention programs. The recap noted that all three grants require no county cash match.

The court also ratified a $1,290,000 agreement with the Houston-Galveston Area Council to provide commuter bus services to downtown Houston; the agreement includes a local match of $258,000.

On behavioral health, the court formally created the Fort Bend County Employee Mental Health and Behavioral Health Task Force "to address health and wellness across our workforce," according to the meeting recap. Separately, the court approved $140,000 in funding for recovery coach services for specialty courts, with the recap stating the funds will be paid through opioid settlement dollars.

Other approvals recorded in the meeting summary included reappointments to county boards (Elaine Mosley and Linda Burrows to the Library Advisory Board; David Lanigan and Paul Burnett to the Child Welfare Board), an extension of a homelessness prevention partnership with the Salvation Army through 2025, an agreement with Houston Community College to allow George Law Enforcement Academy graduates to receive college credit hours, and funding for nonprofit partners supporting emergency shelters, women's services, child advocacy, literacy and senior services.

The court also canvassed the May 3 election result for annexing County Assistant Districts 4 and 5, approved a temporary northbound closure of Peak Road on May 25 for maintenance, and approved free public-health screening events in partnership with Walgreens on June 27 in Katy and Richmond.

"If you haven't completed your training, you have until May 20," said KP George, the presenter of the meeting recap, urging county staff and participants to finish required cybersecurity training. He added, "Let's aim for a 100% participation."

The meeting recap closed with an invitation to the community to attend the county's Memorial Day observance on Friday, May 23 at 10 a.m. at the historic courthouse in Richmond and a call for continued public engagement.

Votes at a glance (as recorded in the meeting recap): the court adopted the 2025 property tax exemptions (outcome: adopted; vote details: not specified), approved public-health grants (outcome: approved; vote details: not specified), ratified the Houston-Galveston Area Council commuter bus agreement (outcome: ratified; vote details: not specified), extended the Salvation Army homelessness-prevention partnership through 2025 (outcome: approved; vote details: not specified), created the employee behavioral health task force (outcome: approved; vote details: not specified), and approved $140,000 for recovery coach services (outcome: approved; vote details: not specified). The meeting record supplied to this recap did not include roll-call vote tallies.